How to Make Money on eBay

Your old items can be worth quite a lot, but you need to understand the basics to succeed. If you’ve ever wondered what the best items to sell are, and how much it costs to sell them, the following tips can help you get started. 

The easiest way to make money is by selling household items. Although some people become professional traders on eBay, you want to start by making the most of the items you already own.

If you are thinking about what you can sell on eBay, the short answer is pretty much anything. Go around your house and gather items that you don’t need anymore. Perhaps you have some old toys that the grandchildren no longer play with, or you just want to sell your old bookshelf to fund buying a new one.  

Electronics can be very profitable items to sell. Surprisingly, it isn’t just gadgets in mint condition that can sell for a lot. You can even make money from broken electronics, as people buy them to utilise extra parts or even to repair them. The key is to be upfront about the condition, but many people search for terms such as “spares or repair”.

Use this as an opportunity to declutter your home.

You can use websites such as Goofbid to find items worth selling on eBay. On Goofbid you can search for the most popular items at any given time and perhaps find that you are sitting on a goldmine!

You can easily lose money on eBay if you’re not careful. eBay will take a slice of the takings of your sold items, so you need to think about profit margins when listing an item.

Generally, the basic fee to list an item is a flat 35p per item. In addition to this, when you sell an item, eBay will take 10% of the final sale price, including the postage fee. If you are looking to sell something for £50, you’ll need to remember that you’ll actually receive £50 – 10% – 35p =£44.65.

The good news is that eBay allows you to list 20 items free every month. For these items, you won’t need to pay the listing fee, but you’ll still have 10% deducted from the final sale price.

You also have to list PayPal as a payment option, but as a seller, it can pay to avoid using it as much as you can. PayPal adds a fee to every item you sell, so you’ll end up making a lot less profit. If your items need to be collected from your home, then always say you prefer the payment by cheque or cash on collection.

Of course, selling things on eBay isn’t the only way to make money. You can turn it upside down and use the website for saving money, which in the long-term helps you have extra money to spend on other things.

eBay is a wonderful place for finding a bargain - if you know where to look. Making purchases on eBay will also help you build your feedback score and reputation, which is crucial to being a successful seller. Next time you need something for the garden or want to find Christmas gifts for the family, look at what you could find from the website.

Finally, as well as knowing the best items to sell on eBay, you should also know the best times to sell. According to eBay, the best time for closing an auction is on a Sunday evening. This is because people often bid on an item in the final minute, and Sundays tend to be times when everyone has extra time to spend online. Typically, early evenings are always better for closing a deal rather than early mornings.

Of course, you also want to think whether your items are seasonal items. If you are looking to sell Christmas decorations, the end of March might not be the best time to make money with them!

Selling your items on eBay can be a fantastic way to earn extra cash.  You just need to remember to include the cost of selling to your profit margins and create listings with plenty of detail and images.